Feeder



Feb. 18, 1941. H. 1 BURHENNE 2,232,314

FEEDER Filed April 1, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 18, 1941. H. J. BURHENNE FEEDER Filed April l, 1940 2 Sheets-Shea*I 2 Patented Feb. 1s, 1941 UNITED STATES Partnr orifice FEEDER.

Henri J. Burhenne, Rensselaer, N. Y.

Application April 1, 1940, SerialNo. 327,110 7 Claims. (Cl. 19A-79) -My invention relates to devices for feeding fibrous stock to a processing machine and particularly to a device designed for attachment to the feeding mechanism o f a card whereby a more uniform roving of the stock is attained and evener and stronger yarns are produced.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a device of this general character which can be attached to ber feeding mechanisms of the type now in use whereby the functioning thereof is improved, although ity is to be understood that the device is, of course, applicable to new machines especially designed to receive the same.

Broadly, it may be said that my device comprises mechanism which may be interposed or positioned between the stock supplying means and the apron of a card feed whereby a more uniform distribution of the stock is obtained upon the feeding apron or other support from which the stock is carried directly to the card and hencethe card is fed at a more uniform rate with the attendantl advantages above noted.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the application of my invention to a card feeding device, Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through the machine illustrating, in a diagrammatic way, my improvement therein;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary diagrammatic side v elevation view of the driving mechanism for the feeder; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary View similar to Fig. 1 showing a modified type of feeder.

In the drawings, I represents the usual hopper intov which the stock is fed and carried towards the usual spike apron 2 by means of the apron 3. The apron 2 carries the material upwardly from the hopper past the comb 4, which removes the excess thereof, and around to the stripper roll 5.

Here the stock is 'stripped from the spike apron and dropped into the weighing pan 6. When a predetermined mass of stock has accumulated in the pan 6 it is automatically dropped therefrom by mechanism well known in the art and therefore not illustrated. In the present types of feeders this material is dropped upon the apron 1 which moves in the direction of the arrow 8 to convey the material toward the card.

More specifically, my improvement, as illustrated in Fig. 1, comprises interposing between the weighing pan 6 and the apron 'I a second traveling apron 9 which is positioned to receive the fibrous material dropped from the weighing pan. The material dropped on the apron 9 is condensed by the board IU which slides in the slot II and is actuated by the reciprocating rod II. This is the usual mechanism for condensing the stock on the apron I in a Bramwell type of feed. The material thus condensed passes beneath the roll I2 to the stripper I3. 5

Positioned below this stripper is an oscillating chute I4, one side of which is pivotally connected to the frame of the machine at I5 and the other side of which is pivotally connected at I5'. The sides I and Il of the chute, which 10 may be of wood or metal, are connected together by links I8 which are pivotally connected with the sides I6 and I'I at I9 and 2D, respectively. The link I8 is pivotally connected to one end of the reciprocating rod 2I at 22; the other l end of the rod 2| being pivotally connected to the Wheel 25 at 24 so that as the wheel 23 rotates the chute I4 is oscillated or swung back and forth over the apron 'I from the position III to the position I. This oscillating motion of 20 the chute is longitudinally of the apron I, or in the direction of apron movement, rather than transversely of the apron or at right angles to the direction of movement thereof. The chute is, of course, open at the top and bottom but the 25 sides may be closed, if desired, by cloth or other flexible fabric (not shown). The wheel 23 may also operate the presser 25 trough the associated bell crank 2G and eccentric rod 21.

In order to avoid complicating Fig. 1 I have 30 not shown therein all of the various belts or chains used for driving the mechanism illustrated. These are shown in a fragmentary, diagrammatic way in Fig. 2. Here, the wheel which oper-ates the eccentric rods 2| and 2'I 35 for moving the chute I4 'and the presser 25, respectively, is driven by a belt or chain 28 from shaft 29 which may be driven by gearing or other suitable means from shaft 39. The intermediate apron 9 may be driven by a chain or 40 belt 3| from the shaft 32 at one end of the main apron.

In operation, the stock is delivered to the weighing pan 6 by means of the spike apron 2 and the stripper 5, as in the present types of 45 machines. Weighed batches of stock are dropped from the pan 6 to the intermediate apron 9 and removed therefrom by the stripper I3 which drops the stock at a substantially uniform rate into the chute I4. 50

The speed at which the chute oscillates is preferably so correlated with the speed at which the Iapron 'I travels and the rate at which the weighed batches of stock are discharged that a continuous sheet or mat of the fibrous material 55 comprising a plurality of layers is built up on the support or apron 1 as it is continuously progressed towards the processing machine.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a modified form of my invention in which the intermediate apron 9 shown in Fig. 1 is dispensed with and in which a chute 33 is suspended immediately beneath the stripper 5 and extends downwardly to a point just above the apron 1. The sides 34 and 35 of the chute may be pivotally mounted on the frame of the machine as shown at 36 and 31, respectively, so that it may oscillate about these mountings from the position 33 to 33". The sides 34 and 35 are pivotally connected by means of a link 38 and this link in turn is pivotally connected at 39 to one end of the rod 40; the other end of the rod 40 being pivotally connected to the wheel 23 at 4|. The rotation of the wheel 23 as described in connection with Fig. 1 oscillates the chute in the manner just described.

The apron 1 moves comparatively slowly and the rate at which the chute 23 oscillates in the direction of movement, or longitudinally, of the apron may be correlated with the rate of travel of the apron and with the rate at which the stock is fed to the chute in the manner described above in Fig. 3. However, the weighing pan is not used and hence the stock is fed to the chute continuously and directly from the stripper 5 instead of from a stripper I3 as in the embodiment shown in Fig. 1.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that with my mechanism it is possible to form on the apron or support 1 a continuous fiber mat of substantially uniform thickness throughout which is fed to the processing machine. Thus it is possible to feed stock to the processing machine at a very much more uniform rate than is possible where the stock is dropped directly on the apron 1 from the weighing pan as in the present types of feed.

What I claim is:

1. In a device for forming a continuous mat of fibrous stock of substantially uniform thickness for feeding to a textile processing machine, the combination with a support for said mat during the formation thereof, of a stock distributor positioned over said support, means for supplying stock to said distributor at a substantially uniform rate, means for continuously progressing said mat towards said machine, and means for moving said distributor back and forth in the direction in which said mat is progressed, whereby to effect a substantially uniform distribution of stock over said support.

2. In a device for feeding fibrous material to a textile processing machine, the combination with a movable apron for conveying stock to said machine, of a chute above said apron for delivering stock directly thereto, and means for moving said chute back and forth over said apron in the direction of movement thereof to effect a substantially uniform distribution of stock thereover.

3. In a device for feeding fibrous materialto a textile processing machine, the combination with a movable Aapron for conveying stock to `said machine, of a chute above said apron for delivering stock directly thereto, means for delivering stock to said chute at a substantially uniform rate, and means for moving said chute back and forth over said apron in the direction of movement thereof to eifeci-J a substantially uniform distribution of stock thereover.

4. In a device for feeding brous stock to a textile processing machine, the combination with a movable apron for conveying the stock to said machine, of oscillating means moving longitudinally of said apron for delivering the stock thereto and spreading it substantially uniformly thereover.

5. In a device for feeding fibrous stock to a textile processing machine, the combination with a movable apron for conveying the stock to said machine, of means for discharging the stock on said apron, and means for reciprocating said discharging means back and forth over said apron in the direction of movement thereof to effect a substantially uniform distribution of stock thereover.

6. A feeding device of the character described comprising a main, movable, feeding apron, a stock weighing device positioned labove said apron, a second movable apron positioned between said weighing device and said main apron to receive stock discharged from said weighing device, and a movable distributing device positioned to receive stock from said second apron and distribute it over said main apron.

'7. In a device for forming a continuous mat of fibrous stock of substantially uniform thickness for feeding to a textile processing machine, the combination with a support for said mat during the formation thereof, a stock support positioned at a higher elevation than said mat support, means for Asuccessively depositing predetermined masses of stock on said stock support, a distributing chute above said mat support, a pivotal mounting for said chute, means for oscillating said chute about said mounting in a direction longitudinally of said mat, a

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stripper for removing stock from said stock sup- HENRI J BURHE'NNE. 

